Behind the Scenes: Pre-K for a Day

A day in the life of an Athens-Clarke County pre-K student is filled with peer interaction, enhancement activities and learning. It’s also spiced with a fair share of rest, nutrition-rich meals and good old-fashioned play time.

The center is home to six pre-K classes, with other state-funded Pre-K classes at elementary schools around the county.

H.T. Edwards officials allowed Patch behind the scenes to experience a normal day in pre-K. They also gave us the inside scoop on the future of the program.

The Future of Pre-K

After a brief scare from Gov. Nathan Deal that pre-K would be cut back to a half-day, school organizers are now bracing for another decision from the governor’s office.

Deal decided the school day will not be shortened. However, the school year itself is being cut by four weeks - or 20 fewer instructional days. It’s all part of his plan saving the state $54 million. The decision local school officials are waiting on is when exactly the days will be cut, and if individual districts may choose when to cut them, which they should be finding out any day now.

 Shelley Goodman, director of the Office of Early Learning at H.T. Edwards, fears the state may cut the four weeks in bulk at the end of the school year, lengthening the summer break. Goodman said that this might result in many children  forgetting what they've learned by the time the next academic year begins in August, leaving them less prepared for kindergarten.

The goal is always to have students retain what they learn in Pre-K so they may hit the ground running in kindergarten.

So not knowing what the calendar looks like has school officials brainstorming on how to make the transition as easy as possible, not just on the children, who will have an extended summer break, but also on the parents.

“The community of Athens-Clarke County needs to look at what we are going to offer parents so that they can continue to work,” Goodman said. “I just want to know if we’re going to be able to make the schedule up. Then we would like to do it with focus groups with parents.”

School district officials will gather input to find out if parents prefer more time off during a fall break or a mid-winter break. Goodman also hopes some additional camps around the county can be added to assist with childcare.

 A Day in Pre-K

• Arrival time is between 7:20-8:40 a.m.
• Greeting time and a morning meeting.
• Two students each morning say the Pledge of Allegiance over the intercom with Education Manager Chris Walker.

“They’ve all learned the pledge, and it’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen,” Walker said. “They stand up here with their little hands over their heart and they talk into the intercom.”

• Breakfast time. Menu items range from chicken biscuits to a breakfast pizza. The main item is served along with toast or fruit and a carton of milk. Students learn how to carry their trays in an orderly fashion and how to open a milk carton, both skills used in kindergarten.
• Circle time for 20 to 30 minutes.

“(In circle time) they talk about books of the day, the concepts they’ll be learning that day or they often do some music and movement,” Walker said.

From there, the schedules in each of the six Pre-K classes vary a bit. The students know what activities await them based upon an interactive list displayed somewhere in the classroom. Once a child has completed an activity, he or she will remove that item from the list and begin the next one.

• Most classes tend to jump into center time for about an hour or so after circle time.

During centers, the students participate in variety of activities, including writing activities, reading games, interactive lessons, computer time or some other activity, all while in groups.

One pre-K student, Emily, chose to play with a toy barn during her center time.

“I’m having fun with my friend,” she said, holding up the farmer figurine in her hand.

Additionally, technology at H.T. Edwards is plentiful, and highly spotlighted.

Each room is equipped with a Smartboard. The teachers use the board as a teaching device, and the children get to interact with it during their dramatic play time.

“We’re playing basketball,” said Kendrickius, as he competed with another student, Talan, in a basketball game on the Smartboard.

“You have to shoot the goal,” said Talan.

• Small groups is when the class divides into two or three small groups to study literacy and language.

“They have very targeted instruction on alphabet recognition (and) print awareness,” Walker said.

• Recess – or activity room time.

The Georgia Department of Education mandated that an hour each day must be devoted to play time for Pre-K students, although teachers may split it into 30-minute segments.

• For lunch, menu items include: chicken fajita wraps, Asian-glazed chicken, steak and gravy, corndogs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, among others. These items are served with vegetables, fruits or starches, and include a carton of milk.

A full-priced lunch is $1.35 a day or 40 cents for reduced. Breakfast costs parents $1 a day or 30 cents for reduced.

• Afternoon nap. The school provides mats. Each child who brings a blanket from home may use it while he or she naps.

 “No child is forced to sleep,” Walker said. “Everybody lies down, and after 20 minutes, if they’re not asleep, they can get an activity – a book – something to just do. It’s lights out – quiet time – for an hour.”

Just as the children are not forced to sleep, they are also not forced to wake up if they wish to continue sleeping. And not surprisingly to some parents, some four-and-five-year-olds can sleep right through anything, including a classroom full of other students playing all around them, according to Walker.

• Around 2:20 p.m., buses and cars arrive, and the students head home.

“It’s a cool day,” Walker said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

More Facts

            ▪ Not only is Pre-K in Clarke County free of charge, but in-district transportation is provided to the Pre-K classes around the county. The buses have supervisors who buckle the children into booster seats.

            ▪Gov. Deal originally wanted to add 5,000 slots to the pre-K population, but has since reduced that number to 2,000. To do so, the plan is to add two children to each Pre-K class for the 2011-2012 school year, increasing the number in each class from 20 to 22.

As it stands now, there are 735 slots for pre-K students in Athens next year, and close to 800 have pre-registered. Those chosen will be done so by a lottery basis according to attendance zones.